Gold bullion closed in London at $502.50 per ounce on December 2. The P.M. fix had not been above $500 since 1987. Even though, as shown in the chart below, the dollar price of gold had been steadily increasing for five years or so, it was the $500 “milestone” that put gold back in the

In February 2006 Ben Bernanke will take over as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The change brings to an end the Chairmanship of Alan Greenspan, which began in August 1987. While much has been written about the change in command, this is but one more bit of news that has been absorbed by the financial

The answer is D. Who’d a thunk? The sage of Omaha, that venerable value investor, the patron saint of stock pickers, Warren Buffett, is a devotee of index-fund investing. The basic precepts of passive investing are being increasingly adopted, if more subtly, by the investing community. For example, Both Lipper and Morningstar, the biggest names

“You make more money selling advice than following it. It’s one of the things we count on in the magazine business—along with the short memory of our readers.” —Steve Forbes, Forbes Magazine, The Anderson School, University of California at Los Angeles, April 19, 2003. We appreciate Mr. Forbes’ candor. He is correct; it is easy

Investors who follow our High-Yield Dow model have been steadily accumulating Merck since last October, shortly after news broke that the firm could face enormous lawsuits related to its blockbuster drug Vioxx. Most recently a Texas jury delivered a $253 million verdict against the firm. Texas law limiting punitive damages will reduce the award substantially

This month we assess so-called “socially responsible investing” (see article within), one of the fastest-growing sectors of the money-management industry. As our research unfolded, we came across a unique fund family that takes the opposite approach. Though we do not recommend it for serious investors, the fund drives home the point that the fund industry

Tech stocks are no longer the subject of polite conversation. To some, stocks and bonds in general are passé. The hot topic today is real estate, residential that is. Over the past decade many home buyers who plunked down a modest down payment, seeking only a place of residence, have watched as their equity has

Much has been made of nefarious practices carried out by several mutual fund companies that have been brought to light largely as a result of ambitious regulatory efforts conducted by New York State’s Attorney General. Indeed, that office has scored a number of “triumphs,” sure to be trumpeted for political gain. In our view, the